


Birds Suddenly Appear

by weeniewife



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crush at First Sight, M/M, Sad Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, bird hot, focuses on his poor mental health please be safe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24433237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weeniewife/pseuds/weeniewife
Summary: He meant to walk down the stairs and to leave the building, but somehow ended up on the floor above him instead. Until now he had believed it to be unoccupied. Perhaps it is just a trick of the mind, but Dimitri is willing to believe the angel he's seen may be truly there.[bunch of people living in the same apartment complex au]
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd & Reyson
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12
Collections: apartment au!





	Birds Suddenly Appear

**Author's Note:**

> Every Fire Emblem: Three Houses character is living in the same apartment complex, and there's some others starting to move in, too!
> 
> I just love the idea of big strong Dimitri meeting the fragile bird and having a crush on him so here you GO   
> more to come bc i love them
> 
> content warning again for Dima's poor mental health,

The nightmares sometimes had Dimitri wandering the halls at night, though he often did not understand what would pull him out of his apartment. Perhaps it was the fact there were others within the walls he would rather not know of his woes; however, it would’ve been impossible for them to be ignorant of his night terrors at this point.

He could at least grant them one evening of peace before it was too late, as he could survive another day without rest. He’d lived through many thus far and there was no difference. He existed in a perpetual state of exhausted, a haze over his vision and a cloud in his mind. Perhaps the lack of sleep was feeding into his half-alive excuse for lucidity, perhaps his delusions were causing his lack of sleep. He really had to get back to his doctor, there were several people lightly reminding him of the importance.

It _was_ important and he was not one to deny that he had a problem. It was simply difficult to admit that he was slipping at present, that all of his progress felt as though it had become lost over time. For so long, the voices had been quieter and he’d accepted his fading memory of the faces he vowed never to forget. Yet he could not shake the fear of losing it all lately; simply being lost in one’s thoughts could pull out the worst in a man.

As his mind wandered he continued on the wrong path. Instead of going down the stairs and outside so that he could wander a while, he went _up._ He stared at the floor in an attempt to ground himself and to keep him away from looking up at the figures undoubtedly wanting to rip into him. They never did, they would never get close enough to truly touch him, and at this point he understood when people told him they couldn’t really be _there._ Their faces were even incomplete at this point, either from his lack of focus or from the way he was trying his best to push it all away. The belief that they _could_ still be true gripped at him and that he could be wrong, however - violently and with enough force to pull him into a state of near-complete dissociation.

Dimitri hadn’t noticed the breath that escaped his lungs, nor how he was unable to retrieve it.

Instead of the phantoms that would claw at his limited peripheral vision, instead of the terrors that may squeeze at his broken heart, he was gifted the sight of something beautiful. There was no mistaking that this delusion was not a shadow of painful memories past. This was a serene and peaceful sight, an angel aglow with the soft orange of the sunset that danced around him from the window.

Remarkable and pristine wings of white, with feathers that were as untouched and perfect as a fresh snowfall were at his back. They were stretched wide, as if readying to take flight, and Dimitri was somehow able to stop himself from the thoughts of him falling from the third story window. Surely his wings were not for show. Right? He was only a piece of Dimitri’s imagination anyhow, therefore he could not be in any danger.

The angel turned back to look at him, green eyes that seemed to see both past and _into_ him at the same time. Dimitri paid no attention to the voices that may be screaming for him to look away, that one whose eye had seen such horrible things did not deserve to look upon one so beautiful. He was unworthy of his poor sight. He was unworthy to be looking up at such a creature in awe, only now noticing that his knees were at the floor.

He refused to listen.

“Are you looking for something?”

It was a voice deeper than he was expecting, yet still somehow relaxing despite his piercing gaze. There was a calmness surrounding him that soothed the ache in his heart and the hum of noises that occupied his mind - granting a beautiful silence in which he truly felt _alive_ and in the _moment._

“I am unsure,” Dimitri admitted without thought. He didn’t know why he ended up wandering up the staircase as opposed to down; he could leave if he had gone the right way, and it was seemingly silent the floor above. What brought him to this immaculate creature was a mystery, though he would not be ungrateful for the mix-up between his feet and his mind. “Perhaps I am.”

The angel hummed, unsatisfied, but there was no hunger or curiosity that needed to be sated. “Then may you come to realize what it is you seek.”

With those words, he erupted in a glimmer of green light and seemed to disappear as he stepped up onto the windowsill and fell from it; Dimitri scrambled to his feet to look down to see what could’ve happened but found no trace there had been a man at all. He was left with a whisper just outside of where he could understand, a stirring by the wall next to him that made him spin on his heel almost hoping to see him again.

Nothing.

As quickly as he was given his vision of peace, it had left him. As quickly as he was gifted with beauty, with the serenity of such a blessed sight; his demons were back to haunt him. How silly he was to almost believe such a treasure might have truly been there. The only proof he was left with was the open window that he briefly considered leaving in case he was to return. But that was madness, and surely he opened the window himself… or someone had left it previously. Strange that it was the only one in the building he’d seen without a screen.

He would do the right thing and not let pests inside. He closed it sadly, yawning as the desire for sleep overtook him enough to lead him directly back to his own apartment, past his bickering roommates, and into bed. He was at least given a true night’s sleep for the first time in what seemed like _years._

——

Again, he truly meant to go _down_ the stairs. Dimitri wasn’t thinking. He was allowing his body to flip into autopilot and he found himself stepping into the third floor’s hallway. He must have been beckoned by the soft sounds of a harp being plucked, unquestionably by skilled fingers that cared much for the music. It was too quiet in the stairwell, and still quiet in the hallway, but it grew louder as he walked farther down.

There was love in the sound, undoubtedly, and it carried itself in the air with something that lifted his heart and reminded him that there was magic still hiding in the unexpected corners of the world. It felt sad and it felt heavenly; he surely knew the sound of the instrument, but he’d never heard it like this. Sorrowful and delicate. Peaceful and sweet. _Alive._

He stood outside of the door, wanting to knock and praise whoever this stranger was for such skill. But it would be rude to do so… especially when they were still playing. So he stood, awkwardly, though he couldn’t deny his joy in being able to hear it more clearly now that he found the source. It felt strange to eavesdrop though the musician surely knew that people may be able to hear.

When it stopped, he knocked as gently as he could as to make sure both the door wasn’t harmed and that the person inside wasn’t terrified by a loud noise after something so pleasant.

“What do you _want?”_

Dimitri’s eye widened in shock as the door opened to reveal the beautiful winged man he’d seen only a few days prior - the angel he was certain was only his imagination. Seeing him again, hearing his voice so clearly… it solidified his existence and brought him to clear his throat in an attempt to pull himself together.

“I merely wanted to find the source of the music, and to tell whoever was playing it that it brought me peace. I apologize for the interruption.”

“Oh.” Seemed pleasant enough an interaction, though there was no trace of a smile on the man’s lips. “Anything else?”

“No, I…” The door began to close, but Dimitri put a hand on it to stop it before it was cut too short. “I suppose what I was looking for was proof you were truly there when I saw you before. That it was not a trick of the mind.”

There was a pause, as if the man was looking for the correct words. There was a ghost of a push against the door again, but it did not move against Dimitri’s hand despite his lack of force in holding it there. “I am unfortunately real.”

_“Unfortunately?”_ Dimitri was taken aback, expecting less deprecation and more of an insult to himself. He pulled away physically as though he was absolutely shocked at the direction of conversation.

“For you, I assume.”

“What ever could you mean?”

“I am not for sale.” And with those words, filled with a venom that Dimitri could feel boil in his own veins, the winged beauty shut the door in his face.

He was unsure what he was referring to, and there was a hint of an accent in his voice. Dimitri wondered if what he meant was somehow lost in translation.

The angel, his stomach churning just a bit, returned to his harp. The sound of his own music would surely drown out whatever negativity he may have injected into his own veins. The situation could have been handled with a bit more poise, he wasn’t an idiot, but it was difficult to be around the man. Surely he’d been the reason for his late nights and restless mornings. It was insufferable, as he had come all this way to escape the gloom he’d been shrouded in for so long. This was supposed to be a lengthy vacation, absorbing knowledge of a new world and making nice with the people before they were inevitably introduced to the people like him, which seemingly did not exist there.

_Making friends_ was on the list of things to do, and he’d definitely messed the opportunity up for this one.

All motivation to continue left him, and he pulled himself to his feet again. Before he knew it, he was in the hallway, calling for the blonde ache that was grinding at his core to _wait._

Dimitri turned to face him, just before the stairs, composed and otherwise looking as though he hadn’t been lashed at. As though he deserved the unnecessary bite in an otherwise soothing voice. As if he had done something wrong when all he had been guilty of was trying to understand something he was unaware even _existed_ yet.

It was not his problem that the laguz had only just started to plant a few roots in the area and were unprepared to reveal themselves to the public. He was not at fault for being shocked to see someone like this, and he was even justified in his inability to know whether or not he was hallucinating.

This was the third time Dimitri had been in the angel’s presence, yet there was no difference in intensity. The only change now was he could be sure that it was true he was _there._ He was living and breathing and _real._ He was unsure exactly what it was that he felt in his presence, something rapidly shifting from a desire to fill his vision with only the pretty, white feathers which would have to be the softest thing he’d ever touch… and knowing he wasn’t worthy of that. The blood on his hands would taint and blacken such radiant light. Surely something so perfect was as delicate as he was captivating.

Dimitri wished to one day brush the long, flowing hair from where it fell so perfectly to frame such an unforgettable face. But he also wished for his safety, as was the normal process of his thoughts for new people that entered his life. Dimitri had been improving, had become much more of the man he wished to be.

But deep within himself he knew he could never run from what slept within. He knew he had every possibility of slipping further away at any given moment; and so, it was a struggle to know if he should pursue friendship at all. That or whatever it was squeezing at his heart as the angel stopped, sighed, and all but lost the tension that he’d seen on his face thus far.

“I came to apologize.”

“No, it was me-” Dimitri quieted himself before he protested too much. He needn’t interrupt him _again._

"I was unprepared to approach any... well, anyone from this place, as of late. You have done nothing wrong. It was rude of me to snap." Again, he reminded himself that he was there to make _peace_ _with the people here_ above all else. If he could not with one person who had already extended a hand in friendship, it was going to be a lost cause. He had been through much and was so slow to trust, but seeing what he could in Dimitri's face and his heart thus far - he might have been, too. “My name is Reyson.”


End file.
